Vehicles use lighting systems to illuminate the area in front of or around the vehicle. For example, automobiles typically have a pair of headlights near the front corners of the automobile. When the automobile is moving forward, these headlights project light ahead of the automobile to illuminate the area that the automobile will soon be driving upon, such as the road or driveway ahead of the automobile. An automobile may also use other lights, such as fog lights, driving lights and the like to illuminate the area ahead of the automobile or in the vicinity of the automobile. Other vehicles, such as trucks, buses, airplanes, boats and trains use similar lighting systems to illuminate the area in front of or around the vehicle.
Vehicle lighting systems allow an operator and/or passenger in the vehicle to see objects near the vehicle and in the path of the vehicle. In one example, an automobile lighting system illuminates the road ahead of the vehicle, including lane markings, traffic signs, curbs, etc. The lighting system also illuminates obstacles or hazards on or near the road ahead of the vehicle. For example, the lighting system can illuminate obstacles such as animals, rocks, logs and the like in the road ahead of the vehicle. Additionally, the lighting system can illuminate objects such as animals, pedestrians, or other vehicles approaching the road ahead of the vehicle (e.g., from a side road or a walking path). The adequacy with which a vehicle lighting system illuminates objects, roadways, and the like depends on various factors, such as the strength of the lighting system (i.e., intensity or brightness), the positioning of the light sources and the direction in which light is projected from the lighting system.
Vehicle lighting systems also serve to locate and identify vehicles to other parties such as other drivers and pedestrians, particularly but not exclusively during darkness. The presence, direction and motion of the vehicle lighting system are important clues by which other parties locate vehicles in the absence of other light. The lighting system is a visible signal of the presence of a vehicle in conventional nighttime traffic. In the case of multiple vehicles, the lighting system provides a mechanism by which operators count, separate, and track the motions of other vehicles.
The systems and methods described herein provide an enhanced vehicle lighting arrangement that utilizes multiple light sources having different light characteristics.